$0.67 Shopping Trip

I got some awesome coupons for Target as well as some Manufacturers coupons and was able to spent 67 cents to get:
4 pack Jello
Glade candle
Glade Expressions Mist starter
Glade Expressions Mist refill
Glade Expressions Diffuser

BBQ Chicken Blue Cheese Wraps

Shred BBQ chicken. Roll up chicken with broccoli slaw and blue cheese in an egg roll wrapper.

Place on a non stick sprayed cookie sheet and bake and 400 degrees until golden brown.

I garnished with avocado, tomato, and lime.

Healthy Banana Chocolate Shake

I love having this for breakfast, and estimate it is under 200 calories.

Makes 2 servings.

Blend following ingredients:
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 cup milk
1/2 container (small) vanilla Greek yogurt
2 bananas (cut up and frozen)

You can also add peanut or almond butter but I would rather avoid the calories since the yogurt has protein.

Make sure you peel and cut the bananas beforehand, or you'll have a mess/war on your hands :)

Blue Cheese Pecan Spaghetti Squash

I was craving blue cheese and tried an interesting combination last night that received good reviews from my test subjects.

1/2 and de-seed spaghetti squash. Grill for 20-30 minutes until soft. Fork out squash. Top with blue cheese crumbles, bacon pieces, pecan pieces and enjoy!

Mini Bite Size Dulce de Leche Cheesecakes

For a family cookout we were having a Mexican theme. I wanted to do something with dulce de leche and decided on mini cheesecakes.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.



Crust:
Graham crack crust

Put a thin layer of the crust into the bottom of a small or mini muffin pan. Bake them for about 5 minutes and remove from oven.

Filling:
Combine the following: 8oz cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 can dulce de leche, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Fill the muffin cups with the filling.

Bake these in a water bath for anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on size. A knife should come out clean.

Let them cool completely (I threw mine in the freezer for 20 min)

To remove, I'd run a knife around the edge and try to pop them out if possible. If they don't come out, try a spoon around the edge to scoop them out or buy mini muffin cups.

Top with remaining dulce de leche.

Chipotle Shrimp Taco

Ingredients:
Tortilla (grilled)
Grilled Shrimp
Broccoli Slaw
Green Onion
Tomatoes

Shrimp Marinade:
Honey
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Garlic
Juice of 1 lime

Slaw dressing:
1/2 avocado
1 container plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Peanut Chicken (Chicken Satay)

One of my favorite recipes...

Marinate diced chicken in the following:
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 cloves garlic
Green onion
Ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
2 T sugar

Skewer the meat and grill it.

Peanut dipping sauce:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup soy
Green onions
Sriracha (optional)

Warm this all in a pan on low heat and serve immediately.

Spicy Lobster Penne

This was very tasty!

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:
2 lobster tails
Penne pasta
Parmesan cheese (garnish)
Green onions (garnish)

Sauce:
1/4 cup Philadelphia Cooking Cream
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
1/3 cup corn
1/4 cup onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup mozzarella



Boil lobster and cut into chunks.

Use the same water to boil 2 servings of penne (I like whole wheat, it keeps a bit more crunch).

Combine all sauce ingredients except cheese and warm through. Then add cheese.

Mix in the lobster and toss with the pasta.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

These are wonderful!


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Slice a sweet potato into 1/8 chips. Toss with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Lay them out on cookie sheet that have been sprayed with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Check them often and when they are getting brown, take them out of the oven. The frequent checking will also allow the steam to escape and make for crispier chips.

Let them cool and they will crisp up a bit more. Try not to stack them, they will get soggy.

Regular potatoes work with this too - they cook slightly faster in my experience.

Strawberry Walnut Chicken Salad

My mom made this last night, I expected the worst but it was delicious!

1 grilled chicken breast
Raspberry pecan vinaigrette
Bleu cheese crumbles
Walnuts
Sliced strawberries

Turkey Sweet Potato Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:
Topping:
1 sweet potato
Parmesan cheese

Filling:
1/2 lb browned ground turkey
1 bunch green onions
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves minced garlic

Cook filling ingredients together for a few minutes and put in a loaf pan.

Top with mashed sweet potato and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

2 servings.

Bacon Ranch Sweet Potato Salad

Last night I made Hawaiian BBQ chicken and a side of sweet potato salad.

Boil 1 diced sweet potato. Combine with bacon bits, green onion, ranch dressing and paprika.

Quick and tasty.

Caesar Shrimp Crostini

For dinner last night I made these large caesar shrimp crostini's. These were basically sandwiches, but you could downsize it for a fun appetizer.

Grill the shrimp (seasoned with garlic salt and pepper) and the pieces of bread. Mix up some caesar dressing (I love the Panera kind in the refridgerated section of the grocery store) with some romaine lettuce.

Layer the bread, salad, and shrimp. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and enjoy.

Mini Bite Size Chocolate Cheesecakes

I made lemon cookies for work (see other post), but I also wanted to make something rich and chocolatey. I have made a chocolate cheesecake before, but I wanted something people could eat in one bite.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Crust:
2 tablespoons melted butter
10 crushed oreos

Put a thin layer of the crust into the bottom of a small or mini muffin pan. Bake them for about 5 minutes and remove from oven.

Filling:
Combine the following: 8ox cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Melt 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup chocolate chips, and add in to the rest of your filling mixture.

Fill the muffin cups with the filling.

Bake these in a water bath for anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on size. A knife should come out clean.

Let them cool completely (I threw mine in the freezer for 20 min)

To remove, I'd run a knife around the edge and try to pop them out if possible. If they don't come out, try a spoon around the edge to scoop them out.

To make mine a little fancier, I then melted some white chocolate in the microwave, put it in a sandwich bag and cut a tiny corner off, and drizzled them.

Low Calorie Super Cheap/Easy Lemon Cookies

OK so I saw a recipe for a lemon cookie made with a cake mix and was intrigued. I love lemon bars, so I was interested in this lemon cookie. I needed a work treat today, so decided to make my coworkers my guinea pigs. I added fresh lemon to my recipe, and they are very tasty. I estimate them at about 50 calories per cookie, which is pretty darn good.

Ingredients:
1 container cool whip (I used fat free)
1 package lemon cake mix
1 egg
Juice of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all of this together (except powdered sugar) - it will be a very thick paste. Drop little balls into powdered sugar, shape them, and place them on parchment paper (or spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray).

Bake for about 10 min, or until they begin to look slightly brown on the outside. Any more than barely darkening and they will be overdone.

Hawaiian BBQ Marinades

As I wandered through a department store's kitchen section last week, I spotted a small sauce packet called Hawaiian BBQ. The brand is Hawaiian Pride, and there are several different sauces, but the best is the Hawaiian BBQ. Any brand could be delicious, but this is the only one I have tried.

I marinated chicken thighs in this sauce (1 lb per packet) for four hours, and by that time all of the sauce was nearly soaked in to the chicken. I then grilled it and it carmelized wonderfully. I think it was seriously the best chicken I have ever had. Which is kind of frustrating since I have tried elaborate marinades that don't compare.

It is sweet, salty, slightly spicy and DELICIOUS.

I ordered 15 packets online. :-D

I think I also might try to make my own from the ingredients listed and see if I can reproduce it. Here is what it contains: Sugar, Soy Sauce, Hot Pepper Paste, Garlic Puree, Sesame Oil, Salt, Whey Powder, Sake, Spices, Dehydrated Garlic, White Sesame Seed, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid.

You can buy it here: http://www.onlyfromhawaii.com/hawaiianpridehawaiianbbqsauce29oz.aspx or check a local Asian or World food market.

Please try it, you will thank me after.

Grilled Sweet Potato Chips

I decided to try grilling sweet potato slices one day when I had a leftover sweet potato. One potato is plenty for two people. I like these a lot! Don't be fooled, these are not crunchy chips (although I do those in the oven, and will post about them someday). They are crisp on the outside and like mashed sweet potato on the inside. Yum.

Slice a sweet potato into about 1/4 inch chips. I don't peel them, because the skin is supposed to be very good for you.Lay them on a plate and microwave for 1 minute. This will speed the process and prevent burning on the grill.

Let them cool for a few minutes (and dry out), and put them in a plastic bag with about a teaspoon of olive oil.

Then season both sides with a seasoning mixture of your choice. I use the following:
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Grill them on medium heat (or top rack), and flip once they get good grill marks on one side (5ish minutes each side).

Serve them right away with your dipping sauce of choice. I like ranch dressing :)

Asian Marinated Flank Steak

The other day I was reading through an asian cookbook and saw a recipe for a marinade for steak that used italian dressing. I was intrigued because when I think of asian cuisine, I don't even picture any italian dressing being involved.

It basically was equal parts italian dressing and soy sauce and some sugar.

I tweaked it a little, and it turned out very tasty. You'll want to let it marinate overnight, or at least 4 hours.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup italian dressing
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons mirin (if you don't have mirin ((can be found in organic section of grocery store or an asian market)) just add some sugar and white wine)

Throw this all in a bag with a flank steak and let it sit. Then grill the flank steak and slice it thinly and serve.

I served this with grilled sweet potatoes (that'll be another post), but you could serve it with anything, maybe even over rice.

Creme De Menthe Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

If you like all things mint and chocolate, this is a great recipe for you.

My favorite dessert: a recipe from my mom called Creme De Menthe Cake. It is generally what we have for my birthday, and I could probably finish off an entire 9x13 in a weekend!

So I decided to try out a cupcake version of the recipe, portion control!

Ingredients:
Creme De Menthe
1 box white cake mix (and whatever it calls for, eggs water etc)
1 tub Cool Whip (I went low fat)
1 jar Hershey's Hot Fudge

This is a really quick recipe. Mix up the cake mix according to the box. Mine called for oil, but I left that out completely and sprayed the muffin cups with cooking spray. Then add between 1/4 and 1/3 cup Creme De Menthe. Fill your muffin cups 2/3 full (mine made 18), and bake as directed on the cake mix box.

When the cupcakes are done, let them cool completely and then top with Hershey's Hot Fudge. I find that stirring it quickly for about 1 minute makes it much easier to spread. It's really important to use a thick fudge, not a chocolate syrup. The Hershey's fudge is in a glass jar. I would suggest not going with a cheap off brand here - it's the best part.

Once they are topped with fudge, put them in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Then stir in 1-2 tablespoons into the cool whip (taste and keep adding until it's your desired strength). Do the cool whip at the last minute, or it will get runny with the alcohol. Top the cupcakes with cool whip and dig in!

Spicy Lime Chicken Salad

Spicy Lime Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken, grilled and diced
3 oz plain greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic
diced red onion (I used about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
dash salt
diced tomatoes (I just used a little bit of chunky salsa since I didn't have a tomato)

Combine everything, good warm or cold.

Serve on a slice of tomato or avocado instead of a piece of bread or sandwich if you want to make the meal healthier.

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit Treats

My mom's dog Max, who we all love, had to have a major surgery about 1.5 weeks ago. He had to have our equivalent to a knee ACL repair, and it left him in a lot of pain, like 30 staples, and a large incision.

It has been a bumpy road with my mom having to take him back to the vet - and I have been feeling so bad for him! So I decided to make him some homemade treats! And for my first time, they turned out well.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon molasses
1 cup peanut butter (I used low fat)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oatmeal

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all ingredients and add more flour if needed. You want to be able to roll this out, so then you can cut it into treat sizes.

After you've rolled out the dough, use a cookie cutter if you have one, or just cut them into fun shapes. I had a cat cookie cutter, so I figured that was perfect. I also had a little leftover so cut into tiny triangles to use for cat treats.

Place them on cookie sheet sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 6-8 minutes.

Then give them to your favorite dog, or mail them if your favorite dog isn't close enough :)

Quick Caramel Popcorn with Coconut and Chocolate Drizzle

I have made several attempts in the past at caramel popcorn, but it has never turned out well. The caramel has always been a little gritty, and I could never get the popcorn stirred in correctly to coat the pieces. Don't get me wrong, I still ate it all, but I thought I could do better.

In previous tries, I made caramel on the stove top, so I decided I wanted to make a 'quick' version. I was able to make this in about 10 minutes, mostly staring at the microwave.

I got a basic recipe for microwave caramel and went from there.

Quick Caramel Popcorn with Coconut and Chocolate Drizzle
1 bag microwave popcorn
1/2 stick butter (or margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Pop a bag of popcorn, and put aside in a large bowl.

Microwave the sugar and butter for 5 minutes on high, stirring halfway through. Make sure you're using a microwave safe bowl (or it will melt)!

Add in the vanilla and baking soda, and stir completely. The mixture will bubble.

Stir the caramel into the popcorn, and microwave another 45 seconds. Stir again, and then spread out on wax paper. Be careful, the hot caramel can burn you. Sprinkle some coconut on the popcorn if you'd like.

Melt the chocolate chips with a little bit of crisco (1/2 teaspoon) for 2 minutes in the microwave. Stir until the chocolate melts, and then put the mixture in a sandwich bag. Cut the tip from the bag, and drizzle the popcorn with chocolate.

Store in a cool place!

Healthy General Tso's Chicken

I went and checked out Saigon Market yesterday, our local asian grocery store. There were so many things that I had never heard of. I think in the future it would be fun to pick something, and try to cook with it. I plan to go back there often, things like sriracha sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, sweet chili sauce, etc are very affordable there. For example, I picked up a larger bottle sesame oil for under half the price that I pay at Walmart.

Anyway, I felt inspired to make something chinese, but didn't want to bread and deep fry anything. OK I wanted to, but I chose not to.

Healthy General Tso's Chicken Recipe (serves 2)
3/4 lb chicken breast, diced
1 bunch green onions
1 teaspoon corn starch

Sauce
1/4 cup mirin (cooking rice wine)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sriracha
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic

Throw the chicken in a bag and shake it around with the corn starch, this will allow the chicken to brown and crisp. Get the skillet really hot, and add a little bit of sesame oil (1 teaspoon-ish). Brown the chicken on both sides and compile the sauce while you wait. Then add the sauce to the pan, and let it cook down until it bubbles and thickens, and adheres to the chicken. Garnish with green onions, don't cook them, they will get brown and gross.

Then you could serve this over rice, or eat as is. I roasted some asparagus in the oven (toss with a dash of sesame oil, salt and pepper, 400 degrees, 15 minutes)

It turned out really well! I think I will take this basic recipe and add some orange concentrate for orange chicken.

Healthy Sweet Potato Salad

This weekend I was craving potato salad, after seeing some deviled eggs on Food Network (I am thinking the connection was hardboiled eggs). So while at the grocery store, I decided I was going to make potato salad, but use sweet potatoes instead of regular ones, and use some greek yogurt to tone down the amount of mayo.

Here is what I came up with, it was wonderful!:

Sweet Potato Salad Recipe (4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

4 eggs

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

3 tablespoons mayo

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

To start, get the water boiling for your sweet potatoes. Add the sweet potatoes and get them cooked.

Get your eggs in a pot of water, and get that boiling as well. When the water is boiling, turn the burner off and cover the eggs. Let them sit on the warm burner for 13 minutes. I just learned the tip of cooking the eggs for only 13 minutes, it prevents the greenish-blue tint on the outside of the yolk. Then drain the water and peel the eggs. Cut up the white, and throw it in with the potatoes. We will add 2 of the yolks to our dressing mixture. You can disgard the rest to get rid of a few calories, or throw them in.

Add all of the remaining things together and combine in a small bowl. Then toss the dressing with the potatoes. This recipe is good served warm or cold.

I would suggest eating it with something grilled :)

The nice thing I noticed with the leftovers is that the sweet potatoes didn't completely soak up the dressing as I have seen when making regular potato salad.

Grilled Chicken Spaghetti Squash "Pasta"

Spaghetti squash is extremely healthy, about 50 calories in a cup of it, so I decided to try it out as a pasta!

It was delicious, spaghetti squash is a little bit sweet, it was just right! Here is how I made it:

Ingredients (2 servings):
1 large spaghetti squash
2 chicken breasts
1 serving Philadelphia Cooking Creme
Green onions
Parmesan cheese
Sriracha sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half. Bake the squash for about 25-30 minutes. Use a fork to scrape the squash from the shell. Set aside.

Grill the chicken breast, seasoned with sriracha sauce and salt/pepper. Cut the chicken into strips.

Warm the Philadelphia Cooking Creme, and mix in the chicken. Add a little sriracha sauce, to taste.

Compile the squash/chicken/sauce, and top with green onions and parmesan cheese.

Yum!

Morel Mushrooms on April Fool's Day

I was visiting my mom on 4/1/12, and we went for a walk in the county park. That morning, I spent about 1.5 hours searching my local woods, and came up with nothing.

She has a few spots that she sees mushrooms in every year, that are not in very wooded areas. We decided to check them, since people have been reporting finding morels in Iowa.

I couldn't believe my eyes when we found 10! Some were growing right in the grass. I wish I had her luck!

Roasted Chipotle Honey Chicken

Yesterday I was reading about chipotle peppers, because I always hear about chefs on the Food Network using them. I decided to try my hand at cooking with them, and the results were wonderful!

Recipe:

Ingredients for chicken:
2 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (seeds removed)
2 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for potatoes:
1 sweet potato
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Spray cookie sheet and 8x8 pan with nonstick spray

Dice potatoes into a small dice. Toss with olive oil, and add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Spread out the potatoes on a cookie sheet.

Filet the chicken breasts in half so they are thin. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl, and rub the paste on the chicken breasts. Place them in the baking dish.

Put both the sweet potatoes and chicken in the oven for about 20 minutes.

When the chicken is almost cooked and the potatoes are done, crank the broiler up to high. Watch everything closely, and when the potatoes are looking a bit toasted, and the chicken looks glazed and a little browned, it is ready to serve. garnish the sweet potatoes with chives.


When I make this again, I think I will add some onions to the sweet potatoes.